Harkins to resign Jan. 5 from House; no boost for pension seen

By Richard Weizel, STAFF WRITER

Published 11:05 pm, Monday, December 28, 2009

STRATFORD -- Mayor John A. Harkins, who took office earlier this month after being elected to his first term in November, will resign from the state House of Representatives seat he held for the past 13 years on Jan. 5.

The Republican recently submitted his resignation letter from the 120th District seat to the Secretary of the State's Office, and will officially step down two months after defeating former Democratic incumbent James R. Miron -- three weeks after taking the oath of office as mayor Dec. 14.

But Harkins will receive few extra benefits from serving additional time in the Legislature, as there is no vacation or sick time for state representatives or senators. He has, however, been receiving his annual $34,446 salary and state health insurance for himself and his family. He will continue to receive his pay until Jan. 5 and health benefits through the end of January.

"Legislators receive no vacation or sick time, and I don't see any way that Mr. Harkins is benefiting financially from resigning after Jan. 1 as opposed to before the end of the year," said Tracy. "I also don't believe his pension benefits will increase for that short period of time. But we have no calculation at this time on how much (his pension) will be."

Tracy said all legislators are eligible to start receiving their pensions starting at age 55.

Harkins, 46, who did attend a recent legislative session and cast a vote, said he stayed on until the end of the year because he didn't want the seat from Stratford to be vacant during the last two months of the year.

"As promised during the campaign, I have resigned my seat in the Legislature," Harkins said Monday. "That resignation will take effect on Jan. 5, the last day of the first year of the current session of the General Assembly. This date fulfills the obligation of service for which I have been compensated for the first year of the current session of the Assembly, and ensured that Stratford had a full legislative delegation voting on the deficit mitigation package that was considered in the House of Representatives on Dec. 21."

In addition, Harkins said the Jan. 5 resignation date allows candidates seeking to replace him in the House to avoid starting a campaign for the special election before the holidays, "and allows the electorate some breathing room before they are once again called to the polls."

Gov. M. Jodi Rell has 10 days from Harkins' official resignation date to set a date for a special election, which must be held within 46 days from the governor's "writ of special election," according to Ted Bromley, a staff lawyer in the Secretary of the State's Office.

Bromley said the town's Democratic and Republican town committees will hold special caucuses to select candidates, and petition candidates are required to submit petitions signed by at least 1 percent of registered voters who cast ballots from the legislative district in the last election, which took place in 2008.

Republic an Registrar of Voters Louis DeCilio said there were 10,644 votes cast in 2008, meaning petition candidates would need 106 voter signatures to be on the ballot.